Hoping Against Hope in a Maximum Security Prison
Leon Kennedy views human suffering as a universal experience that transcends boundaries. In his perspective, suffering, whether it occurs in Myanmar, Alabama, or any other place, is a common thread that binds humanity. He believes that the root of suffering lies in injustice and oppression, where individuals are stripped of their humanity and subjected to inhumane conditions. Leon sees the way to transcend suffering through practices like Vipassana meditation, which he describes as a transformative experience that brings insight and inner peace. By focusing on the breath and confronting one's inner turmoil, he found a path to personal redemption and mental clarity. Leon advocates for resilience, holding onto hope, and finding strength in spiritual practices to navigate and overcome the darkest moments of life. Listen to his full podcast interview to hear more about his story.
“To my brothers and sisters in Myanmar and other places in the world where they are being oppressed, slaughtered, genocide, starved, enslaved, whether it be Vipassana, Christianity, Islam, or whatever it is, that special place where you find that strength, to where you can hold on, just to hold, hope against hope.”
“Suffering is suffering. I don't care how you try to put the lipstick on a pig; it’s still a pig with lipstick on it. Suffering is suffering. We all, I think, are vessels, individually comprised, that have different levels of what we can contain. Although you might be able to suffer a little bit more than me, that sufferance is still suffering. Whether you be in Iraq, Afghanistan, Myanmar, or Alabama, or Mexico, you're suffering. Because you are you're oppressed.
You're suffering, because you're hungry, and they won't feed you. The food that they're feeding you is not fit for human consumption. The food, the way they're treating you, is not humane; they're killing you. They're killing guys that you know! You're watching friends that you've done all this time with die from lack of getting medical treatment, in the so-called free world. They're dying in there. The medical services are horrendous. They're under so many lawsuits. They get to the point where they get confronted so badly by the courts, they just get another company, shut that one down and open up a new one. This is what they do. Meanwhile, your friends are dying in front of you.
Whether it be Myanmar, or any place in the world where there is oppression and suffering, this suffering, these injustices have been going on since the beginning of time. It's a blessing to be a part of that cloth or personhood, where you can be a part of the solution. Be a light shining in a dark place. Just a spark. [snaps] That’s just enough. [snaps]
To my brothers and sisters in Myanmar and other places in the world where they are being oppressed, slaughtered, genocide, starved, enslaved, whether it be Vipassana, Christianity, Islam, or whatever it is, that special place where you find that strength, to where you can hold on, just to hold, hope against hope.
My grandfather used to give speeches. I used to hear him say that, “hoping against hope.” It took me a long time to understand what that meant. But until you are destitute, until you are divorced [chokes up] of everything that you thought existed, whatever was real, until you experience that, it is impossible to want to be a part of the solution. It is impossible to want to be an advocate. So, I entreat, I beg, implore all of my brothers and sisters who have been through this, which is bad, because you know what it is in there. You know what it is? Suffering is suffering. Whether you be Myanmar, Palestine, Israel, Ukraine, way up all over the world since the beginning of time, the sufferance is the same. These are no new ills. These are these are not new things in life. This has been going on a long time. I just hope that the people that make a difference, as yourself in podcasts, and platforms such as this, to where you can bring a like-minded spirit of resolve. These are the people in places and things that really give you true hope. Not false hope, [snaps] true hope. You hold on to something that is real.
There were guys, sometimes, getting involved in things out of hopelessness, making decisions and a lifestyle of evil, because they don't have any hope. They feel like they have nothing to lose. I'm quite sure there are people in Myanmar do the same way. It puts you in a different frame of mind. The survival instinct becomes—can become—brutal, barbaric, but the saving grace is when those elements in your character and your spirit, they still have that spark in it, where you can hold on to some truth and some wholesome things in spite of it. Where you can hold on to your faith, your religion, your meditation practice, if that gives you what it takes. Even if you have to die. That's enough. You've served your purpose. It’s sad, but it's a sad reality. That’s been my story, and I still live like that to this day. Life is so precious. There are so many people in the world suffering beyond measure, beyond what we in the West have any clue about.”